Our Sisterhood Philosophy

Our Sisterhood Philosophy

“Awakening to Love can happen only as we let go of our obsession with power and domination. Culturally, all spheres of American life–politics, religion, the workplace, domestic households, intimate relations–should and could have as their foundation a love ethic. The underlying values of a culture and its ethics shape and inform the way we speak and act. A love ethic presupposes that everyone has the right to be free, to live fully and well…We do this by choosing to work with individuals we admire and respect; by committing to give our all to relationships; by embracing a global vision wherein we see our lives and our fate as intimately connected to those of everyone else on the planet.” — bell hooks. all about love.

SDL puts at the forefront of our sisterhood intentional healing work and internal leadership building. We believe this is just as imperative as demanding policy change and other forms of organizing. This allows us to address the contemporary manifestation of past traumas, ingrained capitalist patriarchy, the racism which prevailed in the first few waves of feminism; the sexism that occurs in left parties and Marxist circles; the transphobia and bi-­‐sexual shunning of the lgbtq movement; and the classism that creeps in academic circles continuing to resurface and hold us back from the vast potential of a global intersectional feminism.

The stories of womyn of color, of first/second/third generation US migrant/immigrant womyn, of trans womyn, of dis-­‐abled womyn, of working class and poor womyn, of educated womyn outside of academia are not told or acknowledged enough. Therefore, we honor and uphold every rich HERstory each member brings to the collective.

Sister Diaspora for Liberation firmly believes, as a collective, building across different identities and intersections, involves laying a foundation of solid sisterhood, in ways that strengthen our collective voice while dismantling our collective struggles:

Community: we build community collectively by believing that no one voice is more important than another and placing love and unity above ego.

Transparency: we believe that transparency between all members is based on trust, honesty, integrity and inclusion in all decision-making and discussions. Anything else just won’t work.

Communication: we believe in creating a space that inspires us to speak and stand in our truth; that allows us to listen to understand versus listening to respond. A space that is healing and nurturing while also inviting us to be clear when expressing our individual thoughts.

Accountability: we practice reciprocal reliability, where mutual respect and support are provided in our time and work. We take on what we can, own up to what we can’t, and continue to build each other up.

Love: What does love mean to us? Genuine, Whole, Reciprocal. Approach it all from a place of love. All great revolutionaries understand that if we are not doing it for the love of ourselves, the love of our sisters, and the love of our communities, then we are doing it for all the wrong reasons. We do not believe in utilitarian love, we believe in love for love’s sake.